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The Sociological
Perspective
Sociology, Tenth Edition
What Is Sociology?
“...The systematic study of human society ”
– Systematic
• Scientific discipline that focuses attention on patterns of
behavior
– Human society
• Group behavior is primary focus; How groups influence
individuals and vice versa
– At the “heart of sociology”
• The sociological perspective which offers a unique view of
society
Sociology, Tenth Edition
Why Take Sociology?
Education and liberal arts
– Well-rounded as a person
– Social expectations
• More appreciation for diversity
– The global village
– Domestic social marginality
• Enhanced life chances
– Micro and macro understanding
– Increase social potentials
Sociology, Tenth Edition
Benefits of the Sociological
Perspective
1. Helps us assess the truth of
common sense
2. Helps us assess both opportunities
and constraints in our lives
3. Empowers us to be active
participants in our society
4. Helps us live in a diverse world
Sociology, Tenth Edition
Importance of Global
Perspective
• Where we live makes a great difference in shaping
our lives
• Societies throughout the world are increasingly
interconnected through technology and
economics
• Many problems that we faced in the united states
are more serious elsewhere
• Thinking globally is a good way to learn more
about ourselves
Sociology, Tenth Edition
Global Map 1-2
Economic Development in Global Perspective
Sociology, Tenth Edition
The Sociological Perspective:
Peter Berger
• Seeing the general in the particular
– Sociologists identify general social patterns in
the behavior of particular individuals
• Individuals are unique…but
• Society’s social forces shape us into “kinds” of
people
• Seeing the strange in the familiar
• Giving up the idea that human behavior is simply a
matter of what people decide to do
• Understanding that society shapes our lives
Sociology, Tenth Edition
Durkheim’s Study of Suicide
• Emile Durkheim’s research showed that society
affects even our most personal choices.
– More likely to commit: male protestants who were
wealthy and unmarried.
– Less likely to commit: male JEWS and CATHOLICS who
were poor and married.
• One of the basic findings: why?
– The differences between these groups had to do with
“social integration.”
– Those with strong social ties had less of a chance of
COMMITING suicide.
Sociology, Tenth Edition
Figure 1-1
Rate of Death by
Suicide, by Race
and Sex, for the
United States
Sociology, Tenth Edition
C. Wright Mills’ Sociological Imagination
• The power of the sociological perspective
lies not just in changing individual lives but
in transforming society
• Society, not people’s personal failings is the
cause of social problems
• The sociological imagination transforms
personal problems into public issues
Sociology, Tenth Edition
THE ORIGINS OF SOCIOLOGY
One of the youngest of academic disciplines,
sociology has it origins in powerful social forces:
• Social Change
– Industrialization, urbanization, political revolution, and
a new awareness of society
• Science
– 3-Stages: Theological, Metaphysical & Scientific
– Positivism – a way of understanding based on science
• Gender & Race
– These important contributions have been pushed to the
margins of society
Sociology, Tenth Edition
Sociological Theory
• Theory: a statement of how and why facts
are related
– Explains social behavior to the real world
• Theoretical paradigm: a set of fundamental
assumptions that guides thinking
– Three major approaches
• Structural-functional
• Social-conflict
• Symbolic-interaction
Sociology, Tenth Edition
Structural –Functional Paradigm
• The basics
– A macro-level orientation, concerned with broad
patterns that shape society as a whole
– Views society as a complex system whose parts work
together to promote solidarity and stability
• Key elements:
– Social structure refers to any relatively stable patterns
of social behavior found in social institutions
– Social function refers to the consequences for the
operation of society as a whole
Sociology, Tenth Edition
Who’s Who in StructuralFunctional Paradigm
• Auguste Comte
– Importance of social integration during times of rapid change
• Emile Durkheim
– Helped establish sociology as a university discipline
• Herbert Spencer
– Compared society to the human body, organic approach
• Talcott parsons
– Sought to identify tasks that every society must perform
• Robert K. Merton
– Manifest functions are recognized and intended consequences
– Latent functions are unrecognized and unintended consequences
– Social dysfunctions are undesirable consequences
Sociology, Tenth Edition
Social-Conflict Paradigm
• The basics:
– A macro-oriented paradigm
– Views society as an arena of inequality that generates
conflict and social change
• Key elements:
– Society is structured in ways to benefit a few at the
expense of the majority
– Factors such as race, sex, class, and age are linked to
social inequality
– Dominant group vs. Minority group relations
• Incompatible interests and major differences
Sociology, Tenth Edition
Who’s Who in Social-Conflict
Paradigm
• Karl Marx
– The importance of social class in
inequality and social conflict
• W.E.B. DuBois
– Race as the major problem facing the
United States in the twentieth century
Sociology, Tenth Edition
Symbolic Interaction Paradigm
• The basics:
– A micro-level orientation, a close-up focus on
social interactions in specific situations
– Views society as the product of everyday interactions
of individuals
• Key elements:
– Society is nothing more than the shared reality
that people construct as they interact with one
another
– Society is a complex, ever-changing mosaic of
subjective meanings
Sociology, Tenth Edition
Who’s Who in SymbolicInteraction Paradigm
• Max Weber
– Understanding a setting from the people in it
• George Herbert Mead
– How we build personalities form social
experience
• Erving Goffman
– Dramaturgical analysis
• George Homans & Peter Blau
– Social-exchange analysis
Sociology, Tenth Edition
Critical Evaluation
• Structural-Functional
– Too broad, ignores inequalities of social class, race &
gender, focuses on stability at the expense of conflict
• Social-Conflict
– Too broad, ignores how shared values and mutual
interdependence unify society, pursues political goals
• Symbolic-Interaction
– Ignores larger social structures, effects of culture,
factors such as class, gender & race
Sociology, Tenth Edition
Sociology, Tenth Edition